On this week’s Radio PA Roundtable, we examine the very real impact of Harrisburg’s budget impasse on schools; U.S. Senator Pat Toomey rails against federal spending and a provision of last week’s budget deal in Washington; and Radio PA’s Rachel McDevitt has a pre-Veteran’s Day report on the changing role of women in the military.
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On this week’s Radio PA Roundtable, Pennsylvania received some bad news as its credit rating was downgraded. Drivers on the PA Turnpike received some good news regarding the speed limit on a 100-mile stretch of the toll highway. And are we finally able to see what the cars of the future will be like?
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting, commentary and analysis on the top news stories of the week.
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Following a first term marked largely by controversies, missteps and flubs, voters in Harrisburg have turned thumbs down to a second term for Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson.
Local businessman Eric Papenfuse won the nod in a four-way race for the Democratic nomination Tuesday. City Controller Dan Miller showed up in second place with incumbent Thompson finishing third. After being charged with vandalizing Papenfuse campaign signs a day before the election, candidate Lewis Butts finished a distant 4th, with fewer than 100 votes.
Papenfuse will face Independent Nevin Mindlin this November.
Harrisburg has been dealing with the fallout of a financial meltdown that triggered a state takeover and has now resulted in charges of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The city’s crippling debt is connected to a disastrous incinerator project started under former Mayor Stephen reed, Thompson’s immediate predecessor. The SEC charges also deal with financial disclosures made during the Reed era.
On this week’s Radio PA Roundtable, Brad Christman and Matt Paul bring you the Corbett Administration’s mid-year budget analysis as the 2012-13 fiscal year reaches the midway point; Democrats tell you their priorities for the new year; and we bring you information on a new way to make a difference to Pennsylvania’s children’s hospitals.
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week.
Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable12-07-12.mp3]
Governor Tom Corbett was joined by First Lady Susan Corbett and Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley in lighting the state Capitol Christmas tree Tuesday, officially kicking off the holiday season in Harrisburg.
This year’s tree is a 22-foot Douglas Fir grown by Crystal Springs Tree Farm in Carbon County. The tree was donated by the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association, which also contributed 28 additional trees to be used in and around the state Capitol complex. After many years inside under the Capitol dome, this year’s main attraction is located outside, on the Capitol steps. Governor Corbett says he wanted to share the tree with the people of Harrisburg and those who come to the city from around the state.
While preparing to light the tree, the governor asked all Pennsylvanians to remember our soldiers serving overseas this holiday season.
The city of Harrisburg may not epitomize a the idea of a frontier town, but former Mayor Stephen Reed amassed thousands of wild west artifacts and antiques for a never-built Wild West Museum. The city’s new administration is now pulling those items out of storage in anticipation of a high-profile auction this summer.
President of New York-based Guernsey’s Auctioneers Arlan Ettinger says he’s humbled to have been chosen for the project. “This is not liquidation, but an offering of treasured items that we’re quite certain will bring in substantial amounts of money,” Ettinger said at a special media preview last week. But analysts don’t expect the city to recoup the $7.8-million reportedly spent to acquire the artifacts.
The auction is expected to take place over the course of eight days in mid-July. “This will be a major event for the city of Harrisburg, and it will have various venues around the city, with the potential to draw thousands of people to our great city,” says current Mayor Linda Thompson. Details are still being finalized.
While the items are still in the process of being cataloged, Ettinger expects at least 8,000 lots to span ten categories. Two of the items sure to attract collectors’ attention are Doc Holliday’s dental kit and Wild Bill Hickok’s gun. Mayor Thompson says the net proceeds will be used to pay down the cash-strapped capital city’s debt.